Fights Like Me
by Princess Angel Rose
Summary: Inuyasha's daughter, Izayoi, is five years old. And she has developed some habits that are leaving Inuyasha and Kagome scared...but they can't help but be proud of her, too.


**I do not own Inuyasha. Also, the whole school scene and such has been very Americanized. I know that. Therefore, if you review, don't complain about it.**

Inuyasha gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles where as white as paper.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome spoke in a reasoning tone. "Stay calm."

"Stat calm?" he exclaimed. "How the hell am I supposed to stay calm when my daughter could be hurt, or…"

"Inuyasha. She's five. She got into a fight with a fellow kindergartener. It can't be that bad."

"She's tiny, Kagome!"  
"No more so than the average five-year-old. I'm sure she's fine. The way her teacher spoke, she was in more danger of suspension than anything else. There's no reason to panic."

"No—"

He might have argued more, except he had pulled into the school parking lot, slamming on the brakes. He stopped talking but threw the door shut as he got out of the car. Kagome leaned her head back and sighed, earning her an expectant look from her hanyou husband as he stopped halfway between the car and the entrance.

After signing in and receiving visitor's passes, they made their way down the hall to the kindergarten room. Any other child as young as this, Kagome thought, might have run directly into his or her mother's arms if they had gotten into a fight. Izayoi, her daughter, did something quite different. When she saw her mother, she remained sitting in the chair in the corner with her arms crossed, but her eyes flickered down to her feet after only a second's eye contact with her mother, and she mumbled something in a way so identical to her father that Kagome had to bite back a giggle.

"Somethin' about stupid boys and negligent teachers," Inuyasha translated by whisper in her ear.

Kagome turned with slightly wide eyes and mouthed, "Negligent?" before asking, "How does she even know that word?"

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha reasoned as the teacher appeared before them.

"Mr. Takahsashi," she greeted. "Mrs. Takahashi. Thank you for coming. As I told you over the phone, Mrs. Takahashi, there was an incident—"

"Yeah, look: it's not—"

"_Inuyasha," _Kagome hissed, and then she sighed. "What he's trying to say is that we don't believe our daughter would fight for no reason. Do you know what happened?"

"I'm not sure," the teacher replied. "But Jason was very upset, and—"

"Wait, _Jason_?" Inuyasha interrupted. "He's bigger than all the other kids put together! He's easily three times her size. How much damage do you think she could do to that a—"

"Inu—"

"Kid," Inuyasha substituted, cutting Kagome off without even glancing at her glare.

His mate still eyed him wearily. They both knew what Izayoi _could_ do, but they had warned her: no teeth, claws, or anything else demon-related at school. Not that anyone would believe it anyway.  
"I'm sure you know that your daughter is stronger than she looks."

Inuyasha's eyes connected with Kagome's, his obvious pride making her concern melt away.

"Yeah," he answered arrogantly. "Your point?"

"My point," the teacher went on, straining to keep her patience about her, "is that Izayoi is fine."

"The boy?"

"The boy's not hurt either, just a little shaken," she assured Kagome. "But the school has a no tolerance policy for violence. And without any other word from Izayoi, I must assume the attack was unprovoked. That warrants a five day suspension."

"If there was a reason?"

"It would only be two days."

"I don't care what that…kid says! Izayoi wouldn't hurt anyone unless they tried somethin' first!"

"Mr. Takahashi!"

When both parents were looking at her expectantly, she exhaled.

"I know."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Mr. Takahashi, I see her every day. I've gotten to know her." She paused. "I know she wouldn't hurt anyone. Except, perhaps, if they tried to hurt her first. But she won't tell me why, so I have to act as though it was unprovoked. This leads me to why we're doing this here and now and not in the office after school. I wondered if you could find out what happened."

Kagome took Inuyasha's hand and smiled at him softly. "You'd get more out of her than I could."

He sighed and nodded. "Stay here," he growled submissively.

"Izayoi!"  
The little girl, putting on her bravest face but not quite hiding her fear of what came next, looked up into her father's face.

"Yes Papa?"

Crouching down to the stance he felt most comfortable in, he met her eyes.

"Izayoi?"

"Papa?"

"You know I know what you did."

Her eyes never straying, she spoke clearly, seemingly unafraid except for a momentary lapse where her fear entered her eyes. Even as she spoke, her voice even and clear, he felt proud of his little girl again.

"I know, Papa."

"What I don't know," he went on, "is why. What did he do?"

"Nothing, Papa."

_Lie_.

At the same time, Inuyasha became aware of another little girl just out of his peripheral vision.

"You realize what that means, yes?"

"Five day suspension?"

"And what am I gonna do?"

"Ground me?" she growled unhappily.

"Yeah. And you'll be working your claws off, kid."

"I know, Papa."

Realizing he wasn't getting anything more, Inuyasha stood and walked away, but he listened for what he expected to come next.

"Izayoi, he seems pretty mad…"

"It's not your problem, Amane. Don't worry about it."

"But if not for me, you wouldn't have hit Jason."

"It's not your fault he was pickin' on you. 'Sides, it's not like I hurt him. Mama'll calm Papa down if he gets too mad."

"But Izayoi…maybe if he knows you did it to protect me—"

"Izayoi!"

"Don't tell _anybody_," Izayoi whispered, almost threateningly, before running to answer her mother's call.

The dinner table was silent that night. Kagome kept glancing up at Inuyasha, who was seething about something. Finally, the tension exploded as Inuyasha stood up, knocking his chair backwards, and then slamming the chair under the table as he stormed out. Silence ensued until Izayoi squeaked a question.

"He's really mad, isn't he?"

Kagome smiled reassuringly at her daughter, kissing her cheek as she followed Inuyasha's path out.

"What was that about Inuyasha?"

"Nothin'," he growled, trying to keep walking.

She stepped in front of him, glaring. "Inuyasha, our daughter is in there, upset, because she thinks you're mad at her. What—"

"She…" He sighed angrily. "I found out what the deal was with Jason."

"And?" Kagome pressed when he didn't continue.

"He was messin' with this other kid—Amane, I think—and Izayoi was defending her.

"Wow." She held Inuyasha's hands as she thought for a second. "She…she fights like you, Inuyasha." She was smiling softly, but he still looked upset. "What's wrong with that? You're a hero, Inuyasha. You've saved so many people…"

"Yeah. By putting the people I care about in danger, not to mention how many times I've gotten hurt." His voice was no longer low. "Is that what you want for her, too, Kagome? Do you wanna worry about her every time she's out of your sight because you know that she'll put others before herself, even at the cost of her own life?

Kagome bit her lips—an annoying habit she had picked up shortly after Izayoi's birth—and sighed. Suddenly Inuyasha felt guilty. That was the bad shine to her eyes, he thought. She was going to cry.

"Kagome…" He tried to growl the word, keeping his voice steady, but her name had always gotten through his wall, and the shine just about broke him down. "She has your heart, and no one to take care of her when I'm not around. Who knows how much more trouble she could get into. Probably more than I ever did."

A tear escaped as Kagome sighed, "I know."

"And that's what you want?"

He was yelling again, and another tear fell from Kagome's eye. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Of course not, Inuyasha! I don't want to worry about her and know she's by herself and at any point could do something so dangerous it could kill her. But I didn't want to feel that way about you, either!"  
Inuyasha blinked. Kagome inhaled.

"That's just how you are, Inuyasha. I love you that way. And though I don't want to worry about her, too, I will, because I wouldn't want to stop her if I could…she just wouldn't be my Izayoi…just like you wouldn't be my Inuyasha."

After a moment of silence, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You can come out now."

Kagome blinked and turned to see where Inuyasha's gaze lay waiting. She smiled softly when she saw Izayoi step out of her hiding place.

"Papa?"

Kagome turned back to see Inuyasha smirk playfully and say, "Come here."

When Izayoi took a few steps closer, he hugged her to him and whispered, "Why'd you do it?"

Izayoi paused. "You know why, Papa."

"No," he said. Not why did you hit him. Why did you stand up for her, even if you knew it meant getting in trouble?"

Izayoi bit her lip, just like her mother had always done. "She just…she was so sad. And it wasn't _right."_ Her voice dropped. "I just wanted to help."

"And then why didn't you tell the teacher what happened?"

"Feh," she scoffed. "I have a reputation, Papa. If people knew I was _nice_…"

He laughed.

"You know," Inuyasha started, "that nothing can hurt you so long as I'm here, right?"

Izayoi nodded.

"But…I can't be everywhere. And if you keep fighting to defend people…you could get hurt. I just don't want that to happen, Izayoi."  
"I know," she agreed. "But it's worth it, don't you think, Papa? Even if I get hurt…if I can help someone else…it'll be worth it. Some people aren't as strong as we are, right Papa? Some people need a little extra help. It's not fair to keep it from them, right?"

A tear slipped from his eye, and he nodded. As scared as he was, he was still proud of her.

"I'm not telling you to stop, Izayoi, just…be careful, okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

He grinned. "All right. Go get your bath and get ready for bed. I'll come tell you a story in a few minutes."

She was up the stairs the second she moved.

"I guess," Inuyasha said to his mate, "she'll just keep fighting like me."

Kagome kissed him, trying to be brave.


End file.
